Named for the Spanish grandee who was the first owner of the five-league survey here, Liendo Plantation became the site of a 16-room home built in 1853 by settler Leonard W. Groce using slave labor. Bricks for the foundation and chimneys were made from Brazos Valley clay. The kitchen was built to cook a pig or a whole ox daily. The bachelor halls were filled with visiting Texas statesmen. Sculptress Elisabet Ney and her family lived here from 1873 to 1911.